Ottie's eight children survive in a world where bootlegging, moon shining, theft, and murder are disturbingly believable. Ottie's neglect of her children is heart-wrenching and the will of her children to survive and achieve is inspiring. The story is set in post-World War II Golden Valley, North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia and the drama unfolds until each of Ottie's children has reached adulthood. One of the eight children, Fred, is the primary narrator of this heart-touching story. Through his eyes we see the inner soul and feel the pain of a small child who craved a mother's love, yet seldom even had as much as a cold meal prepared before he went to school. Through his eyes we see a son who also wanted a father's love, yet he never had that father even claim him as a son. It is an inspiring story of self-forgiveness and redemption.
About the Author: Fred Eli Epeley was born in 1943 in Rutherford County and grew up in the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina during a time when this part of the country was just emerging from the Great Depression. He personally experienced or observed every childhood hardship depicted in the tale of GROWING UP IN OTTIE'S WORLD. His mother, Ottie, grew up in wretched circumstances and gave little or no emotional support to her eight children. She had no man helping to support her and the children, so she learned to survive without following any rules or laws but her own. She bootlegged whisky and worked as a tenant farmer to feed the children. She was often so tired from her long nights at the moon shine still and hard days toiling in the cotton fields that the children had to cook and take care of themselves. Mr. Epeley knew his father, but his father never owned him as a son. His longing to be owned as a son has been a driving force in the author's life. The harsh experiences of his early years became a cauldron of emotion that refined Mr. Epeley's determination to rise above the circumstances of his life. Without support or encouragement from his family, Mr. Epeley showed up at Berea College when 18 and pled his case of need before the college dean. He was welcomed into Berea and, for the first time in his life, he found a home. After graduating from Berea, he went on to receive an MA from Appalachian State University. He later studied languages in Europe and became proficient in German, French, and Spanish. Upon returning to the U.S., Mr. Epeley taught foreign languages for 30 years at both the high school and college levels in North Carolina. He retired in 1995 to continue his travels. In 2014, Mr. Epeley decided to author GROWING UP IN OTTIE'S WORLD. He had spent his adult years hiding and hurting from a past that he had wished to forget. After his mother's death, however, the author realized that he could not heal from the pain of his past by hiding from it. Ottie deserved redemption and he, as her son, needed self-forgiveness for his decades of resentment and hatred for her life-long neglect of him. He became an author to seek these goals.